Beth McDonald

 Edition Redux

ER is Ken Vandermark (saxes/clarinet), Lily Finnegan (drums), Erez Dessel (piano/keyboard), and Beth McDonald (tuba/electronics).

This music utilizes a "cinematic" approach to organizing the pieces, a system which allows me to reconfigure the material for every performance, leading to new paths for the music during the compositions and in open sections as well as self-determined free improvisation between them.  This methodology can be challenging to work with because each player needs to keep in mind where they've been, where they are, and where they're going regarding the compositional sequences, as well as what needs to take place during each piece.

Edition Redux had its first rehearsal on March 29th, 2023. During a seven-date April tour in the States following those initial meetings, the group became a creative machine, each concert leading to new acuity regarding the music and how it can be performed.  The quartet transformed from a new project to a full-fledged band during that process, enabling the group to record all 17 pieces from the book in first takes at Experimental Sound Studio on April 25th. That creative arc is more than extraordinary and was made possible because of the ongoing innovation and insight that Erez Dessel, Lily Finnegan, and Beth McDonald put into the music.

I’d like to thank Katinka Kleijn and Nick Macri for the work they contributed during more than half a year of rehearsals and performances in Chicago to developing the material heard on this album, and I look forward to collaborating with them on an expanded version of Edition Redux in the future.

-Ken Vandermark, Chicago, September 25, 2023

Where Were We

Where Were We is a fully improvised group comprised of Erez Dessel (keyboard), Tyler Damon (percussion), Beth McDonald (tuba/electronics).